For Want Of A Scar
by An UnConcerned Citizen
Summary: Recurring nightmares and his upbringing have changed Harry Potter from an innocent child into something much more potentially dangerous. What will happen now that he is in Hogwarts and wants control over those around him? For want of a scar the tale begins...
1. Chapter 1

AN: Welcome! This is my first real attempt to write fan fiction. If you think you like where this is heading, follow this story. If you have any thoughts, review!

This is a cross between an AU and a FWOAN fan fic. At least I think it is, it is completely possible I have the definition of these two completely wrong.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, the series would still be going. I sadly do not. Why else would I come here?

* * *

The man suddenly appeared at the corner of the sidewalk with a small pop. It was a quiet night on the street known as...where was this again? Although he'd had this dream countless times over the past few years, the boy was never able to remember what the name of this street was. He gazed up at the street sign and mentally nodded.

_Ah, yes...Godric's Hollow_.

He turned, knowing the exact spot to look, but still sending his gaze over a few different houses anyway; _as if I have a choice, _he thought to himself sarcastically.

Every time he had this dream he was completely unable to choose where the man went, or what he did. In fact, the boy had slowly developed a feeling that this man in his dream wasn't even him (an older version or otherwise). Had he been older he may have suspected that there was something very strange about this, but he was young and could only surmise that this was the way his dream worked.

Finally the man's eyes settled upon a little...well… hovel was the best word the boy had found to describe it (Harry learned from a very young age that if you can't think of a word to describe something, look up one so that next time you _can_.) The man confidently began his saunter toward the house, walking with the air of a nobleman. He arrived at the front door, and rang the doorbell, preparing a wicked smile for what he knew was about to happen when the owner of the house opened the door.

It swung open, revealing a young woman, perhaps in her mid-twenties; she looked as if she was just getting ready to settle down for the night. He waved at her lightly and when she saw his face, her countenance went from silent warmth to a barrage of emotions in quick succession. He counted them off mentally: _shock, anger, recognition, disbelief, terror. _

She was already starting to shake violently and her mouth opened to let out a scream but her throat seemed to have closed on her and she made no sound. He took this time to walk into the house and opened his mouth to speak in a chilled whisper "Hello there, my dear. I assume you know why I am here? I'm terribly sorry to have come this late but I _am_ a busy man you know. Now I hope you don't mind if we skip the pleasantries."

The woman seemed to snap out of her terror at this and pulled out her wand, trying not to show that her arm was still shaking...well more like trembling at this point. However he had anticipated this and moved forward with a surprising swiftness to grab the woman's wand with his one hand and to pull out a knife with the other. With one swift jerk of his arm the woman's neck was split open, blood pouring from it as her eyes quickly lost their life.

The boy remembered that the first dozen or so times he'd had this dream this very image would cause him to vomit upon waking up, and leave him dry heaving for a good fifteen minutes afterward; however by now when he saw her die he felt...nothing. Not even the smallest twinge of remorse could be gathered by the boy as the man pocketed the wand and headed for the upstairs, his shoes leaving bright red marks on the cream-colored carpet and his already dark robes now stained even darker.

There was a flicker of light coming from the second room on the right. He made no attempt at being quiet now and his footsteps almost seemed to echo across the hall despite walking on carpet. And yet the atmosphere of something being very _wrong_ seemed to go unnoticed by the remaining occupant.

A voice came from the room and said "Who was it at the door honey? Was it another 'stay safe and hidden' message from the old coot?"

Not replying, the specter walked to the doorway and came upon a young man, also in his mid-twenties, who was lying in bed, watching something on the television. The young man took a single sideways glance at the intruder, and the next instant was on the ground firing spells rapidly at the phantom in the doorway.

"Ah I see there's a decent fighter in here. And no verbal incantations either? Not that they will work anyway..." he drawled as he lazily brought up a shield, into which the spells were harmlessly absorbed. A small pop later and he was behind the young man, his long, cold fingers wrapping themselves around his throat as he hoisted the man off of the ground. The man kicked and tried to throw off more spells while sputtering for air, but they were once again absorbed by the shield spell. The iron grip tightened more and more until the man finally gave one exhalation of breath and went limp.

He let go of the man after taking his wand and finally parted his lips, letting out a chuckle. It wasn't a warm chuckle however; it had the chill of liquid nitrogen and a hint of madness in it as well. He now walked serenely out of the room and headed for a door at the end of the hall that was all but the slightest bit closed. His heart was starting to race with exhilaration - it was finally time! He silently opened the door and walked into the tiny room, where in the middle stood a crib.

And of course, in that crib slept a tiny baby, no more than a few months old.

The man took out his wand and stared at the baby silently. All of his hard work over the past few months was finally vindicated! He let the feeling of victory soak in for a minute, not used to sparing moments for these simple delicacies of life.

But he came here to do something, and it was time that he do it.

He raised his arm slowly and majestically, and if the boy didn't know any better he would have thought that the man was about to make a bouquet appear from the end of the wand, followed by the mother and father popping into the room saying that it had all been a hoax to trick him in his dream. However, he knew what was really about to happen. The first 23 times the boy had tried everything to mentally stop the man's arm from rising to do what it was about to do. The next 17 times after that the boy had tried desperately to wake himself, to no avail. And even for the next 13 times after that, the boy had woken at the end of the night with tears in his eyes.

Even though he had gotten used to the killing of the woman and man in gruesome ways, it took him much longer to get used to seeing the murder a _child_.

However, now he just resignedly looked at the baby as it slept peacefully, and prepared himself as the man yelled for the first time that night, with a fury and look of loathing that was never on the man's face before, "_AVADA KEDAVRA-"_

There was a flash of green light, a high-pitched shrieking, and a sound resembling an explosion, and suddenly Harry Potter was sitting up in his bed sweating as if he had just run 3 miles in the blistering heat of July.

* * *

I always felt Voldemort was too tame in his killing style for being a Dark Lord (Although I _do_ understand that Rowling's target audience was rather young compared to what I am going for). If you really want to spread fear, you don't use the Killing Curse, which is quick and painless. You use methods that cause a painful, gruesome death. I therefore stepped up his evilness to suit what I consider the methods of someone whose name is not spoken in an entire country.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: If you are reading this, you were at least neutral to the first chapter. Yay!

* * *

Harry got up out of bed and fumbled around his desk to try to find his glasses. Finding them on the ground (_How do they always get there?_) he picked them up and put them on before changing out of his sweat-soaked clothes. He still had some time before his alarm would go off, so he took his time packing up the rest of his belongings that he would be taking to Hogwarts with him. Nothing much, just a few things that would be necessary for the train ride and his room: his school robes, a few quills and pieces of parchment so he could write his parents, and a few miscellaneous items from his friends at school.

Although Harry was excited about starting at his new school, he would dearly miss his old friends. Most of them had decided to go to other schools; Durmstrang being the most notable one, with others going to Beauxbatons, and even a few going across the globe to an American school. While there were still a few classmates left in his old school that he would know at Hogwarts, from what he had seen of them and what he had heard about the Houses he assumed they would probably be placed in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. At least he could write his friends with Hogwarts's owlery.

His alarm started ringing, and Harry quickly packed the rest of his things into his trunk. The last thing he picked up was his Remembrall, noting its clear smoke before placing it in his pack and heading toward the stairs. As he got to the bottom of the stairs he smelled the telltale scent of bacon and eggs, and his stomach responded by giving a loud grumbling noise. He walked into the kitchen to see a man obscured by an open newspaper and a woman who was trying to cook enough food to feed a dragon.

"Morning Mom, morning Dad." he sleepily yawned, while taking a seat next to his raven-haired dad.

"Morning honey/son." they replied and he noticed there was a little...okay a lot more sadness to it than usual. Oh not this agai-

"Do you promise you're going to write us every day?" Lily asked as she turned toward Harry with an obvious I'm-about-to-cry face.

He had to stop from rolling his eyes and put on his best comforting face as he said with the same kind of false sweet voice that _vile_ writer Rita Skeeter had "Of course mummy. I'll miss you so much. But I may not have time to write much for the first few weeks; you know, while I'm getting used to everything."

"That's my boy. You're sure to get in the same House as your mother and I were in." James said as he affectionately ruffled the boy's hair.

Harry decided now might be a perfect time to glean a bit more information about his soon-to-be-house and asked "What's Slytherin like dad?"

"You'll love it son. While the Common Room's location leaves much to be desired, the people you'll come to befriend will make sure that you'll never be in want for life. It's the house of ambition after all. Nearly all Slytherin graduates get into high-status Ministry jobs right out of Hogwarts. And not a damn Mudblood can be found there either." James finished with a chuckle.

_Good_, Harry thought. _No need to endanger poisoning my blood by being around that filth._ Little did Harry's parents know that he wasn't quite planning to befriend the other occupants of Slytherin; at least not in the traditional sense. He was going to befriend his fellow Housemates up to the point that they would follow him, but go no further than that. He was going to rule his school!

...Okay sure, he hadn't exactly worked out the fine details of _how_ yet, but who needed plans when you were already able to cast most first year spells? He'd been training with his father's wand ever since he learned how to pull off puppy dog eyes, and then a few weeks ago he had gone to Diagon Alley where he had finally gotten his own wand. It was an interesting experience to say the least...

**_Diagon Alley; a few weeks earlier_**

Harry Potter was having the day of his life. It had all started in the morning when his parents had announced that it was time for Harry to do his school shopping, and that they were all going to Diagon Alley for the day. Normally Harry's parents wouldn't let Harry go to Diagon Alley; it was often home to more of the less refined members of the wizarding world, so often during shopping trips Harry would instead be dragged along to a posh store where anything remotely close to looking fun was disallowed.

But this time he had finally been able to go to the place he had wanted to see since he was little. And what a sight it was! There were bright colors everywhere, and every shop seemed more magical than the last: Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop where Fanged Frisbees were flying in and out of aisles trying to scare unaware shoppers, Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour where Harry had the most delicious treacle ice cream sundae he had ever tasted, and most importantly and thus still being saved till last was to enter the crux of all wizard-kind, Ollivander's Wand Shop.

Oh, sure it wasn't all fun; there had been a few stupid parts as well: Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions where Harry had to stand still for what seemed like an hour while an old bat measured him in ways he thought were completely unnecessary_ (weren't there resizing charms for these kinds of things?) _and Flourish and Blotts, a rather drab bookstore stood out among them_ (like I need to know the history of Hogwarts to do magic...completely moronic is what it is!). _But Harry couldn't see why his parents disliked his being here so much; it wasn't like he was hanging around with muggles. These were his people...wizards and witches!

And now the time had finally come. Harry had been patient all day; the shops could really only keep him distracted for so long, and now he couldn't wait anymore. His parents finally began to navigate toward Ollivander's. Harry's excitement was roaring to a high as he tried to imagine what having a wand that specifically chose him would be like. Would it feel like the first time he had flown on a broomstick? Would his wand grant him what he wanted dearly more than anything else...the power that the man in his dreams had held? Questions were firing through his brain so fast that none of them could be held on to long enough to formulate an answer. Fortunately, they had kept him occupied long enough that he was very surprised to find that they were suddenly right outside of the shop.

Upon walking inside Harry had two very conflicting thoughts: one) that this shop contained the very symbols of wizard essence and was a sort of holy ground, and two) that this shop was not nearly as interesting as the joke shop; heck even the book store was more interesting than this run down place. All that this place had were shelves stacked with boxes, each shelving unit marked with strange characters that Harry had no intention or interest in trying to decipher.

Harry had just enough time to wonder whether he should mentally a) apologize to the store or b) make fun of it more when he was nearly startled to death by the sudden appearance of a man behind him who very softly said "Why hello there Mr. Potter, it is good to finally see you in my shop. I've had more than a few Potters pass through during my time in this store...oh yes, quite some good wands they have left with. Let us see what wand has lain in wait for you all this time. For the wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter, let there be no delusions that it is the other way around..."

Harry turned around to behold a very tall, very old-looking man with eyes that pierced through him like the light of the moon pierces the night sky. In that moment Harry got the feeling that this man was no weakling. He instinctively knew that while this man was not as powerful as the man in his dream, he was closer to that kind of power than anyone else Harry had ever come into contact with. And as 10 year olds are wont to do when they meet someone who they can feel great power from, Harry became rather afraid and decided right then and there to choose option A and inwardly apologized to the store for his sacrilegious thoughts upon his first entering the holy ground.

The man disappeared behind one of the shelves, only to appear moments later with a box containing a reddish-brown wand that Harry instantly recognized as the same color wand that his father and occasionally he had used.

"Mahogany with a dragon heartstring core. 10.5 inches. Pliable and a good wand for Transfiguration, as your father can attest to. Take the wand and give it a flick, nothing more, nothing less" Ollivander stated with a touch of affection in his voice.

Harry picked it up and gave it an excited flick, maybe a little too excited, because the wand flew out of his hand and hit the shelf. Correction...make that went straight through the shelf... and make that through the wall of the store as well. Harry quickly stammered out an apology but Ollivander simply muttered a few words and the wand returned through the hole, after which the wall and shelf magically repaired themselves.

"No worries, Mr. Potter. Seldom does a wand find their wizard on the first attempt." Ollivander said as he disappeared once more behind the rows of shelves. He appeared with another box; this one contained a rather strange-looking wand that was a light brown on the two ends of the wand with a whitish hue in the middle.

"Rowan with a unicorn tail hair core. 11 inches. Moderately unyielding and unparalleled for defensive spells. It's said that rowan wands have never chosen wizards that go on to become Dark; even that no rowan wand has ever done an evil act. A flick if you would, Mr. Potter..." Ollivander stated.

Harry went to reach for the wand, but right as he was about to touch it he received a painful shock that elicited a loud yelp from his mouth. Ollivander looked thoughtful, even concerned for a few moments, and then his aura lightened as he said with an air of amusement "I suppose it was silly of me to think you could be a gossiper, Mr. Potter. Very well, there is a wand for everyone in this shop." Next the man brought out a box containing a rather yellowish wand.

"Hornbeam with a dragon heartstring core. 12 inches. Extremely unyielding and used most by wizards who have a single, passionate vision they want achieved. You know the drill, Mr. Potter."

Harry reached for this wand, knowing that the effects would be similar to the last two attempts. As it had turned out, he would be wrong. For at the instant his skin touched the wand, he knew that this wand was his, and his alone. It was nothing like the feeling of using his father's wand; in fact he felt that he could never again hold another person's wand now that he knew the feeling of his own in his hand. It was as if for the first time he could feel his magic flowing through him, and he became aware that he was wearing the stupidest looking grin on his face.

Ollivander said "It looks like we have a match. Congratulations, Mr. Potter. You will find that your wand will very quickly attune itself to your magic. Hornbeam wands in particular become adapted to their owner's style of magic so strongly that it will refuse to do even the simplest of spells for other wizards and witches. It will even absorb your principles and refuse to act against those principles. It is a very sentient wand wood, perfect for someone ambitious coming from such a predominantly Slytherin family..."

_**Present**_

Unfortunately he hadn't had many chances to test out his new wand as his parents were much more leery of letting him use his own wand (_Like I'm going to flick my wand and cause an explosion, really...although that __**would **__be cool)_. However, the few times he _had_ been able to sneak in a spell, the results seemed very promising. It wouldn't take much to impress his fellow classmates anyway; anyone who could cast a levitation charm on the first day of classes would quickly gain status, and Harry was convinced that he could do much more once he was actually in classes.

The rest of breakfast was rather ordinary (if not still a little somber on his parents' sides) and before long they were getting ready to leave for the Hogwarts Express.

* * *

I feel my greatest challenge in this story will be making Harry walk the line between being a complex character, just being a jerk, and acting his correct age. He definitely has some not-so-endearing qualities; some explained by his age, some due to his upbringing, and others are just character flaws.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Trying to update this every two weeks or so for now. Don't know how long I can keep that up (I work full-time and also have a budding social life), but I do my best to at least write around 100 words per day. Also just a note once we get to Hogwarts the pace will slow down. So don't worry if it seems like things are going too fast.

* * *

Soon enough the Potters found themselves outside the station, Lily having cried all the way to the station while James gave last-minute advice to Harry.

"Now whatever you do, make sure you introduce yourself to Professor Snape as soon as you find time to do so. That man will protect you from any bullies you might meet in Slytherin, and believe me there will be some. A good rule to stick to is the more they look like a troll, stay away because they will probably be about as strong as one. Actually, it's more than likely they'll be as intelligent as one as well, so you could always confuse them into letting you be if you need to."

Harry simply nodded, not trusting his response not to come out as sarcastic, instead thinking to himself _Confuse them? I'd rather use my superior magic ability to control._ The station was extremely crowded with muggles, and it occurred to Harry that maybe it wasn't such a coincidence that one of the entrances to the magical world was in such a crowded area. _Of course! It's just to prove how much better we are! We can completely disappear in front of hundreds of people and not even one of them notices! And idiots try to say they're just as smart as us... _They walked down the platforms until they were right between Platform 9 and 10.

Just in front of Harry stood a family of redheads, and from the subject of their conversation it seemed as if they were a wizarding family; it also helped that the boy who appeared to be headed for Hogwarts was already dressed in his wizard robes...even though the ride to Hogwarts would take hours...and if he stained his robe with food or drink early he wouldn't have anyone to clean it up with magic..._what is this kid, stupid? _

"Mom, why do I have to wear my robes now? It'll take _forever_ to get to Hogwarts! What if I spill something on my robes and there's no one to clean it with magic? Besides, we're in the middle of a crowded station! Aren't we supposed to, you know, blend in more?" _Ok, strike that._

Unfortunately, the mother wasn't paying him any attention, so the boy was left to grumble to himself, Harry occasionally catching short phrases such as "Always has time for _them_..." and "Soon I can do whatever I want..."

After the family had shuffled their way through the pillar, Harry turned to his parents. "Well... I guess this is it." he said. And he felt a pang of sadness as he said it because it had really just hit him that he wouldn't see his parents for months. No more coming down to breakfast every morning to see mom diligently cooking and dad reading the Daily Prophet. No more flying sessions with dad. No more kisses goodnight from mom. And now he knew that he had to push these out of his mind or he would start tearing up. _I'm going to rule Slytherin...I'm going to rule Slytherin...I'm going to rule Slytherin..._

"Are you _sure_ that you don't want us to come with you through the barrier to see you off?" Lily asked, tears verging on flowing anew as she looked over her son.

James put his arm around Lily's shoulder to comfort her and gently said "Now Lils, we have to let him do what he wants to do. If he wants to go alone, I say we let him. It's the first step toward him becoming an adult." At this he turned to Harry and said "I want you to know how proud of you I am son. Do our little group a favor and cause a little mischief while you're there alright? But keep control of yourself too. Remember what we Marauders always say, "There's-" "

"no point in mischief if you can't manage it" Harry finished softly. And he had to double his efforts because tears were collecting in his eyes now as more memories came back to him. How, when he was 7, he started working with dad to pull pranks on Uncle Sirius and Uncle Lupin; and thereby started working with Uncle Sirius and Uncle Lupin to get back at dad, only to always have mom scold them all when they inevitably broke something in the house with all their pranks. They had just this year made him an official member of their old group from their school days when they had been known as the Marauders- the greatest pranksters to ever grace Hogwarts. _I'm going to rule Slytherin...I'm going to rule Slytherin...I'm going to miss my paren-dammit! _

He rushed forward into his mother's arms, gripping her a good bit more tightly than he normally would. And a few raindrops must have fallen directly into his eyes, because there was an excess of fluid in them that caused said liquid to make a stream down his face as he said "Goodbye Mom. I love you."

Lily lost all semblance of composure at this sentence and let her tears flow freely as she said "Oh, Harry! I love you so much; please be safe at Hogwarts and write soon okay? You're such a good boy. I know you'll make lots of friends just like your father did."

James felt that this was his cue to go down on one knee and wrap Harry in a huge bear hug. "With my genes for looks and your mother's for intelligence, you can do whatever you want. The world is your house elf, son; you can make it do anything you want it to. We'll see you for Christmas and as your mom has made abundantly clear, we love you. Now get going. Best not to think too much if you know what I mean."

Harry _did_ know what he meant, and was thankful that his dad was letting him go quickly. He didn't know if his resolve could handle it if he stayed by his family another minute knowing he was leaving them soon. As he walked toward the barrier, he said "Goodbye dad. I'm gonna be just like you!" It was the last thing he said before everything around him changed.

Harry found himself in a train station that looked very much like King's Cross station. If you didn't count the fact that this place was spotless, where the real King's Cross was grimy. Or that the atmosphere here was exciting and joyous, while the real King's Cross held only monotony and apathy. _Just the way it should be. It's like a perfect version of the Muggle World, with perfect people in it too._ _Surprising that those muggles are still surviving without magic. Dad says it's only a matter of time before they die out...natural selection at its finest._

Harry walked through the crowd toward the entrance to the train, hearing snippets of conversation passed between families as their kids set off toward their magical education.

"You have it right? Make _absolutely_ sure that you don't lose it..."

"Oh, come now, don't be such a crybaby. We'll see you in a few months..."

"Do you need help dearie? You look awfully nervous and confused..."

Once Harry stepped on the train, he decided that he should scout out some of his fellow Slytherins-to-be. Under the guise of checking each compartment for "a friend" he attempted to guess who would be in Slytherin and who among those looked like he could get the most use out of friendship with them. For the large part the bullies destined to be placed in Slytherin were rather easy to pick out since they seemed to congregate in a few compartments and made snide remarks (and the occasional threatening grunt) whenever Harry looked in on one of them.

The rest, however, were rather difficult to tell since most everyone looked the same - nervous and insignificant. Harry was just beginning to wonder if he would even be able to find one other non-bully Slytherin before the Sorting when he opened a compartment to find a lone boy, tall for his age with stone gray eyes. Harry instinctively knew that this boy was going to be sorted into Slytherin, and that he would most certainly not be a bully.

Maybe it was by the way the boy held himself, as though there was a confidence that can only be found in people of high status.

Maybe it was because of the way the boy's eyes held a flame that could only be interpreted as ambition.

...Or maybe it was the "Slytherin or Bust" shirt he was wearing, coupled with a snake hat that twirled magically around his head.

Harry liked to imagine it was the former two.

* * *

The cloudcuckoolander has arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: A shorter chapter this time. The next one will be longer.

* * *

Harry was in a predicament. He was halfway into the compartment and had a few precious seconds in which he could either ask the boy if he could sit with him or pretend he was looking for a friend and get the hell out of there. _A snake hat? SERIOUSLY? _

"Hello there, I'm Draco. Draco Malfoy. It makes me think of a dragon for some reason. Pretty Slytherin to me, them being all cunning and stuff in myth. My last name apparently means "bad faith" in French too. Nothing more Slytherin than that right? Because ya know, we betray people all the time and stuff. Go on and take a seat. What's your name?"

Now that the boy had started talking and basically forced himself on him, Harry couldn't convey his regret in not having taken option B. He sat down and with as refined a voice and neutral a face as possible said, "I'm Harry Potter. Harry is just a boring name given to normal people. And Potter comes from someone who makes pots, obviously. Although considering our wizarding heritage I find it more likely that my ancestors made cauldrons but didn't want to be called the Cauldron family. I am also hoping to enter Slytherin, although I'm not quite as...er..."

"Enthusiastic about showing it?" Draco asked as he tapped his hat, which ceased its coiling before he took it off, revealing whitish-blonde hair. "This is just my shortcut for finding out who will be in Slytherin without having to go and check all the compartments like some less intelligent people might do."

"That's...quite cunning of you actually." Harry said with a tone of heightened respect. _Well if he didn't have the shirt on now he'd seem normal enough. I suppose his method works even if he's a little out there..._

"Duh...Sly-ther-in...re-mem-ber?" Malfoy said as though Harry were a 6-year-old boy. "It's the greatest House. I mean _Merlin_ was in it! The wizard among wizards! What more do you need to know to see that it's clearly above all the other Houses? Did you know he was supposedly spawned from a Royal nun and an angel? Although others have said that it was actually an incubus in the guise of an angel..."

Harry's dad had taught him that there were essentially two types of Slytherin when it came to Merlin. The first type felt that he was a traitor to Slytherin because of his infamous (or famous in _some_ circles) pro-muggle viewpoints. This type comprised most of the bullies of Slytherin, and then those whose ancestors had been opponents of the man. The rest of Slytherin was much smarter than the first type and overlooked his deplorable weakness of muggle-loving in favor of his undeniable power. He _was _the greatest wizard to ever have lived, after all. Plus Merlin was always a good card to play to shove Slytherin's superiority in all the other Houses' faces.

"...And he knew that Vortigern would be killed and replaced by Aurelius Ambrosius, and then by Uther, and then of course by Arthur. He must have been quite skilled at Divination..."

Draco was quite obviously of the second type, although he seemed a little more...worshipful than most of the man.

"...He even built Stonehenge as a burial ground..."

Okay, a lot more worshipful.

"...I wonder why he liked blue robes even though he was Sorted into Slytherin..."

Draco had gone on for around 10 minutes now, and before he got so far in that Harry's train ride would become a History of Magic lesson, Hary tried to stop him from going any farther."Er...Draco...maybe can we talk about...er...-"

Harry was saved from having to think of some random topic to ask Draco about by the compartment door sliding open suddenly, revealing an older looking girl with a peculiar badge adorned with a silver "P" pinned to her yellow-lined robe. _Seriously, another person with their robes already on? And I doubt she was forced to put them on by her mum..._

"Have either of you two seen a large cat-lion looking thing around here?" She asked.

Draco looked thoughtful for a moment before saying "Well, I can't speak for my friend here, but I haven't seen anything like that. Although earlier I did see a toad hopping around unattended..."

Harry had stopped paying attention to Draco at this point because he had suddenly noticed that the girl was not alone in standing right outside of the compartment. Behind her was a much younger girl who looked like she trying as hard as possible to appear nonexistent. And she was doing a bloody good job at it; the only reason Harry had noticed her at all was due to her hair. It wasn't an extraordinary color, a simple brown that Harry might have been able to describe more accurately had he not been a man and considered every single shade of brown as "brown".

What _was_ extraordinary was how thick and shaggy her hair was. It was like the girl had never had her hair done in her life! Other than her hair (which Harry kept on looking back at in disgust) she had brown eyes, an average face at best, and was apparently on the same bandwagon as the other girl because she too had her robes on already.

_A Hufflepuff if I ever saw one, _he thought to himself as he slightly shook his head.

"...and then the kid tried to turn the rat yellow with some _obviously_ made-up spell. Is that considered animal cruelty? Because if so you should get on that..."

_Does this kid ever shut up?_ "Draco, I think you should probably let her get back to looking for the..er...cat-lion thing." Harry finished lamely. _Note to self: finish thoughts in head before beginning to speak.  
_

"Thank you for your...help" The girl said, looking at Draco as though he were the most confusing thing in the world, before turning to the girl and saying "Come on, on to the next compartment." as she slid the door closed.

"What are your thoughts on that other girl behind her?" Harry asked.

Draco looked as if he were deep in thought for a few moments.

"There was another girl?"

It took all of Harry's willpower not to bang his head against the wall beside him.

_Well, with this guy's constant talking at least he'll be a good person to glean information from. If he makes a bunch of friends and brings them to me I can make good use out of them as well. Yes, this could end up working out in my favor if I do this correctly..._

Harry's inner planning got interrupted when the compartment door slid open a second time, now to an older boy with the same badge as the girl and a younger boy in tow.

"Have either of you two seen a toad around here?" The older boy asked.

Draco opened his mouth to start talking, and this time Harry couldn't stop himself from hitting his head against the wall repeatedly as Draco went on tangents for a good ten minutes before actually recollecting to the boy where he had seen the toad.


End file.
